§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the proportion of the £145 million spent on tobacco support in the EEC which is contributed by the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. StrangNearly all of the £145 million provided for in the EEC budget for 1978 represents premia to first stage purchasers who buy leaf tobacco from Community producers.
The United Kingdom contributes to the Community budget as a whole rather than to its individual parts. Under the Treaty of Accession the United Kingdom contribution to the 1978 budget will depend in part on the amount of own resources established in the United Kingdom in 1977. It is estimated that the United Kingdom share of the 1978 budget, expressed in European units of account, will be about 15 per cent.